Pandemic and post-pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) infection in critically ill patients

Background: There is a vast amount of information published regarding the impact of 2009 pandemic Influenza A (pH1N1) virus infection. However, a comparison of risk factors and outcome during the 2010-2011 post-pandemic period has not been described. Methods: A prospective, observational, multi-center study was carried out to evaluate the clinical characteristics and demographics of patients with positive RT-PCR for H1N1 admitted to 148 Spanish intensive care units (ICUs). Data were obtained from the 2009 pandemic and compared to the 2010-2011 post-pandemic period. Results: Nine hundred and ninety-seven patients with confirmed An/H1N1 infection were included. Six hundred and forty-eight patients affected by 2009 (pH1N1) virus infection and 349 patients affected by the post-pandemic Influenza (H1N1)v infection period were analyzed. Patients during the post-pandemic period were older, had more chronic comorbid conditions and presented with higher severity scores (Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA)) on ICU admission. Patients from the post-pandemic Influenza (H1N1)v infection period received empiric antiviral treatment less frequently and with delayed administration. Mortality was significantly higher in the post-pandemic period. Multivariate analysis confirmed that haematological disease, invasive mechanical ventilation and continuous renal replacement therapy were factors independently associated with worse outcome in the two periods. HIV was the only new variable independently associated with higher ICU mortality during the post-pandemic Influenza (H1N1)v infection period. Conclusion: Patients from the post-pandemic Influenza (H1N1)v infection period had an unexpectedly higher mortality rate and showed a trend towards affecting a more vulnerable population, in keeping with more typical seasonal viral infection

Natural Disease Resistance in Threatened Staghorn Corals

Disease epidemics have caused extensive damage to tropical coral reefs and to the reef-building corals themselves, yet nothing is known about the abilities of the coral host to resist disease infection. Understanding the potential for natural disease resistance in corals is critically important, especially in the Caribbean where the two ecologically dominant shallow-water corals, Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata, have suffered an unprecedented mass die-off due to White Band Disease (WBD), and are now listed as threatened under the US Threatened Species Act and as critically endangered under the IUCN Red List criteria. Here we examine the potential for natural resistance to WBD in the staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis by combining microsatellite genotype information with in situ transmission assays and field monitoring of WBD on tagged genotypes. We show that six percent of staghorn coral genotypes (3 out of 49) are resistant to WBD. This natural resistance to WBD in staghorn corals represents the first evidence of host disease resistance in scleractinian corals and demonstrates that staghorn corals have an innate ability to resist WBD infection. These resistant staghorn coral genotypes may explain why pockets of Acropora have been able to survive the WBD epidemic. Understanding disease resistance in these corals may be the critical link to restoring populations of these once dominant corals throughout their range

El cementerio de la clínica: Primer cementerio civil de Calahorra

El Archivo de la Catedral de Calahorra conserva la historia de los Acuerdos Capitulares del Cabildo entre los años 1804 y 1852 del primer cementerio civil de la ciudad, siguiendo la Orden Real de Carlos III. Estuvo ubicado en el espacio geográfico conocido como ¿La Clínica¿. El obispo D. Mateo Aguiriano y Gómez lo bendijo el día 1 de junio de 1806. El Gobernador ordenó su cierre el día 19 de septiembre de 1885 y su demolición tuvo lugar entre los años 1927 y 192

Ermita de San Emeterio (Santu Mederu, Santumedé o Santumé) en Pimiango (Asturias)

La ermita de S. Emeterio se encuentra situada al este de la provincia de Asturias, en el límite de la provincia con Cantabria. Tiene las dimensiones de una iglesia. Se accede al interior por una puerta lateral. Tiene planta rectangular, consta de una nave, cabecera plana y arco triunfal que divide la nave del presbiteri

Tres Generales Jesuitas de talla internacional en Calahorra: Ignacio De Loyola (I)

Iniciamos una serie de tres personajes de talla internacional que estuvieron en Calahorra. El primero de ellos es Íñigo de Loyola, posteriormente llamado Ignacio de Loyola, que más tarde fue conocido y reconocido por la Iglesia como S. Ignacio de Loyola. El motivo de presentar al que fue fundador de la Compañía de Jesús se debe a que este año celebramos el 450 aniversario de su muerte acaecida en Roma el 31 de julio de 1556, a los 65 años de edad. Íñigo de Loyola estuvo en Calahorra a mediados de marzo de 1522, al mismo tiempo que el Papa Adriano VI, reciéntemente elegido el 9 de enero de 1522. Adriano VI, cuyo nombre de pila era Adriano de Utrecht, fue regente de España desde la muerte del Cardenal Cisneros hasta su elección como Pap